tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post4174331586459423484..comments2024-02-13T12:50:30.457-05:00Comments on Rants Within the Undead God: Wealthy Man replaces his Sexist and Racist Thoughts with Clones to silence CriticsBenjamin Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-22205474466928568852014-05-11T09:35:22.951-04:002014-05-11T09:35:22.951-04:00Well, a red herring is an idiom meaning something ...Well, a red herring is an idiom meaning something that misleads and distracts from the relevant or important issue. There isn't really any connection between the clone world and the racist inner world of Billington, so that's a red herring.<br /><br />However, the clone world does satirize the politically correct notion of racism. The point is that all our concepts simplify the world, so racist over-generalizations are just those models that happen to offend some group. They're simplifications motivated by ignorance, fear, or hatred, but all of our concepts may ultimately have dubious motivations as well. So I'm just putting racism and sexism in that context.Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-31695073702462742512014-05-10T22:23:18.245-04:002014-05-10T22:23:18.245-04:00I'm maybe missing how him initiating the const...I'm maybe missing how him initiating the construction of the clone world could somehow mean it's connected to him (like maybe his imagination is connected to him). I just can't see any connection to begin with to see the red herring as a revelatory statement. It's like someone saying they made that cloud drift across the sky - no bang for me from someone saying 'No, he did not!'<br /><br />Just saying that because I feel I'm missing something (and so I'm curious), I'm just not sure what?Callan S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/15373053356095440571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-87319081683429589242014-05-10T08:58:54.919-04:002014-05-10T08:58:54.919-04:00Well, they say that if a joke has to be explained,...Well, they say that if a joke has to be explained, it's probably not so funny to begin with. But yes, Billington is sort of mad. It's the people on Earth who are cloned and he's just arbitrarily calling those clones his concepts of the original people, to forestall anyone saying that his concepts oversimplify groups in a sexist or racist way. <br /><br />That's why I say, "Some persistent critics point out that Mr. Billington’s secondary universe is in fact the largest red herring ever thrown down as a distraction, since he’s not connected to that universe, so nothing that happens in it is responsible for his behaviour."Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-6018663686186303062014-05-10T07:30:15.982-04:002014-05-10T07:30:15.982-04:00I still don't get it? If I look at a Rorschach...I still don't get it? If I look at a Rorschach image, think it looks like a bird then photocopy it, how does that copy somehow eliminate discrepancy that it's just a blot of ink?<br /><br />What's being cloned? The people of earth or are Billington's thoughts being 'cloned' (made manifest into people)? If the latter and his thoughts made manifest make a bunch of women who drive badly, well then I could start to see what the whole project does.<br /><br />But a straight clone seems so uttely pointless it seems like absolute madness? But hey, he can be mad in the story of course, not arguing that.Callan S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/15373053356095440571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-62554559745700416602014-05-08T11:12:05.555-04:002014-05-08T11:12:05.555-04:00The cloned world isn't supposed to be compared...The cloned world isn't supposed to be compared to the original Earth; rather, it should be compared with Billington's mind, with his inner world. The point is to eliminate any discrepancy between his concept of women, for example, and women themselves, so that no one can accuse him of being sexist.Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-84009401044950485862014-05-07T20:26:35.360-04:002014-05-07T20:26:35.360-04:00I don't understand the principle - if it's...I don't understand the principle - if it's a cloned world, why would it be any different than the first? Why would it confirm (or disconfirm) his 'hypotheses'?Callan S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/15373053356095440571noreply@blogger.com